


I Hope You Mean It

by highfalutin baby birb (fevered_dreams)



Series: Show Don't Tell [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 01:22:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15697278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fevered_dreams/pseuds/highfalutin%20baby%20birb
Summary: Lance will be the first one to admit that he is probably not qualified to work in a flower shop. He wouldn't go as far as to say that he's the worst flower shop employee ever, but he might be close.He just has such a hard time remembering all the different flower meanings.But their new customer, Shiro, is just so attractive that Lance tries to at least pretend that he does, just to impress him.





	I Hope You Mean It

**Author's Note:**

> *whispers* please don't @ me about thace's characterization, i just really miss him and wanted him in this story

Lance will be the first one to admit that he is probably not qualified to work in a flower shop. He wouldn't go as far as to say that he's the worst flower shop employee ever, but he might be close.

He just has such a hard time remembering all the different flower meanings. First of all, who knew there were so many? Lance can only keep track of a select few.

Red roses are for love, passion - romance. Peonies are great 'get well soon' flowers because they have healing properties, apparently. Lance doesn't really get it, but they're pretty enough. Irises work well for celebrations and congratulations, and daisies are usually a safe bet if Lance needs to add a few more things to a bouquet.

Still, there are so many more flowers than those few littering the shop he works for. Half of them Lance doesn't even know the name of, which is why his boss made helpful name plaques for them a few weeks after Lance started working there. They help a bit, but not enough.

As evidence by Thace, yelling "Lance! I can't believe you added aconite to a bouquet meant to celebrate someone's birthday!"

"But, it was such a pretty bouquet," Lance whispers, eyes downcast because he can't handle how angry his boss' slitted yellow eyes look. "The aconite went so well with the pink roses and peonies. Even you think it was a beautiful flower arrangement, right?"

"It doesn't matter how pretty a bouquet is if it doesn't convey what it's supposed to," Thace argues, hackles still raised. Regardless, Lance takes a minuscule amount of pride in the fact that his boss doesn't argue against the fact that the bouquet he made was absolutely stunning. Especially because, at the moment, it's all that Lance has to hold on to.

Still, Lance huffs, spinning towards Thace indignantly. "Well, how was I suppose to know that aconite meant _hatred_? Honestly, I'm surprised that anyone besides you knows something like that."

Thace bristles angrily, hackles rising even more and fur sticking up as he berates Lance once again. Lance is convinced that one of the reasons that Thace keeps him around is because Thace is too intimidating for a lot of their customers to handle. While many Earth dwellers had become accustomed to extraterrestrial beings recently, there were still many more who didn't exactly welcome them with open arms. So, Lance was Thace's buffer for those who were still shocked by big, burly, and furry Galrans roaming around, running quaint flower shops in the middle of bustling city streets.

At least, that was what Lance figures.

Regardless, Thace fumes even more at Lance's most recent floral blunder. "I've given you several resources surrounding the meaning of hundreds of flowers, including extraterrestrial once!" he argues, growling and grumbling at Lance.

"Well, it's not my fault you don't take all the super sudden requests," Lance thinks to himself. Of course, he doesn't say that out loud. As, admittedly, tolerant Thace, he's still more than slightly intimidating to Lance, despite the fact that he knows that Thace would never hurt him.

So, Lance instead says, "You know, I wouldn't have so much trouble if some of these customers if they just gave me more time to pick out their flower arrangements! It's not my fault that they don't plan ahead, like that guy asking for a last minute gift for his friend that he wants to be more than friends with. I would think that someone would try a little harder for someone they like so much."

Thace simply huffs in response. "You're supposed to know what all the flowers mean without needing to look them up each time. That's your job."

"But it's so hard to remember all that stuff along with everything I learn in my classes, you know."

The look Thace gives Lance in response is distinctly unimpressed, but Lance stands his ground. Eventually, Thace sighs that big sigh of his, letting Lance know that he's given up for now. Lance thanks his lucky stars that he's just too likable and approachable to be fired from a customer service job. Not to mention the fact that he's the only other person who works at the flower shop. He may not be the best at remembering flower meanings, but he is plenty good at taking care of them and keeping the floors clean.

Lance's mother hadn't raised a slob after all.

Thace must've remembered the same thing as he shoos Lance away with a tired wave. "Alright, fine. Just make sure not to do it again."

"Why do you have a hatred flower laying around for, anyway?" Lance asks.

"We cater to all of our customers needs, no matter what they are," Thace explains. "That's what sets us apart from the rest of our competition."

Lance sneaks a glance at the traitorous aconite plant. He finds it hard it to believe that such a beautiful flower could be so mean, but then he suddenly remembers his ex-boyfriend. His ex had been an absolute scumbag, yet perfectly wonderful and beautiful in the beginning of their relationship. And yet, when everything had gone to shit, Lance hadn't needed anything as complicated as a bouquet of flowers to express how much he hated that piece of shit. Simply kicking Lotor out of his apartment ass-naked had been more than enough to satisfy Lance.

After that, Lance has been wary of dating other people. Even the idea feels like more hassle than it was worth, and no one's caught his eye enough to make Lance rethink his newfound cynical approach to relationships.

That is, until he ses an absolutely breathtaking customer walk into the flower shop a few days later.

The man is absolutely gorgeous and fit. His white hair looks surprisingly good against the slight tan of his skin, and his shoulders are broad, and his pectoral are barely contained by the fancy dress shirt he's wearing. Even worse than that is the way that his veins look under his toned arm, the flesh one that peeks through the beautiful stranger's rolled-up sleeves. In fact, his metal prosthetic is sinful in its own right, and Lance can barely handle the sight of it all.

Of course, Lance ends up being so taken by the beautiful stranger's god-like visage that he doesn't even notice bumping into a vase until it's already shattering by his feet, sloshing blue water everywhere. The sound startles Lance so much that he almost drops the pot he has in his hands until the beautiful stranger rushes over by his side to help Lance steady his grip.

"Are you alright?" Beautiful Stranger asks. His body is warm and firm as it pressed against Lance.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lance gusts in response even though he can faintly feel the tell-tale sting of a cut near his ankle. Nonetheless, Lance is so overtaken by the feeling of Beautiful Stranger's body flush against his own that none of it matters, and he doesn't want to spoil the moment by opening his big fat mouth to complain about some flesh wound.

And yet, despite Lance's valiant efforts, Beautiful Stranger somehow notices Lance's wound regardless. "You're not fine. Let me take a look at it."

Suddenly, Beautiful Stranger drops down until he's kneeling at Lance's feet to better examine the cut on Lance's leg, and Lance becomes even more lightheaded than he was before. From this angle, Lance gets a better look at Beautiful Stranger's face. He's an unbelievably handsome man, sculpted with a chiseled jaw and sharp cheekbones that catch the light so beautifully it leaves Lance embarrassingly wanting and dreaming of strange things that Lance could never reveal to his mother. Beautiful Stranger also has a deep, but long-healed scar running across his nose that highlights his perfect features even more.

All in all, Beautiful Stranger is breathtaking, so much so that Lance _knows_ his face is beet-red from how warm it feels, and it's all absolutely unfair.

"Lance? Is everything ok? I thought I heard something break." Thace's voice flits through the air until Thace is there, emerging from his dinky office in the back of the store. The look that he gives Lance at the sight of a nice customer kneeling at Lance's feet is, once again, wholly unimpressed, and all Lance can do it shrug sheepishly in response. It's not like he planned for this to happen, even though he probably dreamed of something similar at least once before.

Except he never expected it to ever actually happen, especially not in front of his boss.

"My apologies," Beautiful Stranger says, and now Lance is left to swoon at the smooth timbre of his voice. "I accidentally surprised - " he pauses, glancing up at Lance with captivating slate gray eyes, " - Lance, was it?"

All Lance can muster is a dumb nod.

"I accidentally surprised Lance here and caused him to knock a pot over as a result," Beautiful Stranger continues, still kneeling at Lance's side. "I'll pay for the cost of damages of course."

"No, no, that's fine," Thace sighs. "I'm just glad you're not hurt, sir."

"Oh, call me Shiro." Beautiful Stranger flickers his eyes Lance's direction before returning to Thace, and all Lance can do is hope that Beautiful Stranger - no , _Shiro_ , doesn't notice how flushed Lance is. "And I'm perfectly fine. I'm mostly worried about Lance here."

"I'm fine!" Lance squeaks out, much to his increasing embarrassment. "Really, it's just a scratch. It doesn't hurt that much at all, and it was all my fault anyway."

Shiro clicks his tongue as he brushes his fingers against the hem of Lance's jeans. "I feel bad regardless. Please, let me at least look at it. "I am a doctor, you know."

Lance can't actually see Thace roll his eyes, but he still feels it. Nonetheless, he presents his leg to beautiful Shiro to inspect. Lance knows it's nothing more than a shallow cut, but Shiro attends to it lovingly, pulling out a convenient pad of rubbing alcohol from his pocket to disinfect the wound with. Lance hisses at the sting of it, but the feeling of Shiro's smooth fingers on Lance's skin, flesh and metal, more than make up for it.

A few beads of blood still well up through the cut after Shiro is done disinfecting it, so Thace disappears for a moment before returning with a roll of gauze from their rusted first aid kit.

"Oh, I can do that myself!" Lance says when Shiro moves to wrap Lance's leg up. Some part of Lance would actually prefer doing it himself because having Beautiful Stranger so attentive and focused on him is too much to handle.

Shiro simply smiles up at Lance as if this is the most mundane thing that's happened to him. "Please, let me."

And, with how earnestly Shiro is looking at him, how can Lance possibly refuse? Shiro touches him softly as he rolls up Lance's jeans, and even his prosthetic feels nice. Lance can't even feel the cut with how hyper-focused he is on Shiro's hands, and he is more than happy with that. Not to mention, the way Shiro's flesh arm flexes ever so slightly as he tightens the gauze around his leg has Lance so weak that he practically collapses right there on top of Shiro.

Except, before he can, the moment is over, and Shiro is standing back up, so close and so _large_. He's tall, broad, and oh-so handsome. It's like staring into the sun, so intense and captivating that Lance can't stop himself from looking away.

But Lance does manage to croak out a small, Thanks".

"It was nothing," Shiro responds, tilting his head slightly as he looks down at Lance. "I see plenty worse at my job."

"As a doctor?" Lance asks.

"Yeah. I work in emergency medicine, so this was pretty easy compared to what I have to deal with on a regular basis." Shiro pauses before glancing back around the flower shop. "That's actually why I'm here. I like to get some of my patients flowers if it looks like they're going to have a long or rough recovery, but the flower shop I usually go to closed recently."

"We'll be happy to help you," Thace announces, moving to stand beside Lance. He plants his large hand on Lance's shoulder, and it's firm. "Lance, would you mind cleaning up a bit? And then come watch me make the flower arrangement for our customer here. It'll be a good learning experience for you."

"You're new to the shop, then?" Shiro asks Lance.

"Something like that," Thace scoffs before leading Shiro away and leaving Lance to clean up the mess he made.

On the floor are dozens of roses that Thace had been in the process of dyeing blue. The petals still showed hints of white under the blooming blue, and they're soft to the touch as Lance collects them. Most of them are crushed, but he finds three that are in good condition. He tucks them away somewhere safe before sweeping up the glass and mopping up all the blue dye water, making sure not to hurt himself again, even if he wouldn't exactly mind having Dr. Beautiful tend to him again.

By the time he joins Thace and Shiro, the flower arrangement is nearly finished. Lance recognizes a few of the flowers, like plenty of bright daisies and peonies. There are a handful of other flowers with more muted colors, but they all come together so well it reminds Lance that there really is something to flower arranging.

"It's beautiful," Shiro says, beaming. Lance didn't think it was possible, but he looks even stunning than he already was now that he's so pleased. "Thank you. I'm sorry that my request was so sudden. I usually put in an order at least a day ahead of when I plan on picking the flowers up, but I got turned a bit off schedule after finding that my old flower shop had closed."

"It's no problem. Our policy for putting in requests ahead of time only applies to large orders," Thace responds. "I'm just glad you're pleased with it."

As Shiro gets ready to pay, Lance remembers the roses he had set aside. He bounds through the shop to get them and almost trips over himself on his way back, much to Thace's exasperation. "Some of the roses from the vase I knocked over didn't get damaged too badly. I thought they would look nice in the bouquet, and I'm pretty sure these don't mean anything bad, right?" He looks over to Thace for confirmation. Thace simply shrugs, but Shiro looks delighted.

"I think they'll be a great addition," Shiro says, giving Lance a sharp nod that shouldn't have Lance's heart fluttering the way it does.

"Yeah?" Lance asks quietly.

"Yeah," Shiro answers, eyes fixed so firmly on Lance's that it almost hurts. His fingers brush against Lance's briefly as he moves to pluck the roses from out of Lance's hands. "They're beautiful."

"They sure are," Lance breathes, but all he's really seeing now are the way the corners of Shiro's eyes crinkle ever-so-slightly as he smiles.

Afterwards, Shiro leaves, but not without promising that he'll definitely return for his future flower needs. Even though he's sad to see him leave - but not sad at watching him go because even Shiro's ass is perfectly sculpted - Lance breathes a sigh of relief now that his heart is finally beating normally again.

That is, until Thace places another heavy hand on Lance's shoulder, this time a touch harsher.

"Lance," Thace says, voice deceptively light, "what have I told you about flirting with our customers?"

Lance gasps, whipping his face around. It was a poor decision on his part, though, because now Thace has an even clearer view of Lance's blushing face. "I was not flirting!" Lance tries to argue, but his voice cracks in the middle, and his entire upper body burns unbearably hot.

"Is that so?"

Lance huffs. "How could I have possibly flirted with someone so far out of my league? All I did was embarrass myself in front of him as soon as he walked in the door. Not very attractive, if you ask me."

The look Thace gives Lance this time is unreadable. He continues to stare at Lance for time, which leaves Lance antsy and ready to bolt. Eventually, Thace just sighs. "Whatever you say. Just get back to tending to the flowers for now." He turns to leave, but, before he actually starts walking away, Thace flicks head to the side to raise his eyebrow at Lance from over his shoulder. "And try not to make a fool of yourself the next time Shiro visits."

"Oh, you don't have to tell me twice."

 

* * *

 

 

Shiro visits again a week later, right in the middle of another one of Lance's arguments with Thace. Lance had seen plenty of carnations in Thace's flower arrangements before, so he finds it so dumb that the _yellow_ ones mean hatred and rejection while all the other colors are so nice and happy. At least they had looked so pretty alongside the red and pink tulips Lance had in his bouquet.

However, at the sound of the front door bell twinkling, Lance and Thace quickly stop arguing and move away from each other so they can pretend that they're perfectly respectable flower shop employees who don't get into so many spats. Thace rushes off the water some of the new pansies growing in the corner, while Lance absentmindedly trims the bush of yellow carnations that are most certainly mocking him.

"Those look nice," Shiro says. For such a bulky guy, Shiro walks with a deceptively quiet step, startling Lance once again. Thankfully, there are no accidents this time. Lance turns slowly, trying to mentally prepare himself for Shiro's beauty, but he's still caught unaware and breathless at the sight of Shiro, so handsome and so close.

"Don't they?" Lance responds. "But apparently they mean hatred and rejection, or something like that. It's a waste of a pretty flower, if you ask me."

Shiro chuckles before saying, "I agree, but at least there are plenty of other pretty things out there." He's looking at Lance super intensely again, and Lance becomes suddenly paranoid that there's something on his face or in his teeth or something that he awkwardly turns his attention back to the carnations before speaking again.

"Is that what you're here for?" Lance asks. "Another nice bouquet of pretty flowers for another one of your patients?"

"Yes, if that's not too much trouble."

"Of course it's no trouble! It's what we're here for, after all."

Shiro gives them a whole day to make the arrangement, like he said he would. He doesn't give many details about the patient in question, most likely for confidentiality purposes, but that's fine. Lance figures a general 'get-well-soon' bouquet will do.

So, Lance uses the flowers from Shiro's first bouquet that Thace arranged - the daisies, peonies and a small handful of white roses here and there - in his own. He also decides to add in some azaleas, calendulas, and a large birds of paradise on the side for a bit of flair. Lance is quite proud of himself in the end, and even Thace is pleased, so Lance is more than happy to present it to Shiro the next day.

"Lance, it's perfect!" Shiro exclaims as he takes the bouquet from Lance's hands. The tips of his fingers brush against Lance's again, and the feeling of both flesh and metal have Lance shivering so hard he's practically vibrating. "Thank you so much."

"You don't have to thank me!" Lance manages to say after almost choking on his own spit from swallowing down the tiny little moan that wants to escape at the sight of a beautifully beaming Shiro in front of him. God, one day Shiro might just kill him, and Lance isn't sure if Thace would be more happy or upset about it. "Like I said, it's what I'm here for."

Shiro shakes his head, and his face is earnest. "Still," Shiro says lowly, leaning his face forward slightly, "it's really amazing."

It's so hard for Lance to breathe in the face of Shiro praising him that he can see sparks in the edges of his vision from oxygen deprivation. Despite that, Lance somehow manages to gulp down enough air to reply with a small, "I'm glad you think so. Really."

Shiro walks out of the store soon after, big smile still gracing his perfectly proportioned and extremely symmetrical face. Thace, from the corner of Lance's eye is definitely giving Lance a _look_. Lance tries his best to ignore it; he really does. But Lance caves in a few mintues later, turning around to see Thace still staring at Lance.

"I am _not_ flirting!" Lance exclaims, and how he wishes it didn't sound like such a whine. "It's called good customer service!"

"What? I didn't say anything," Thace says blandly.

Lance scrunches his nose in response before they're interrupted again by another customer.

The timing of Shiro's following visits are a bit sporadic, but he usually comes by at least once a week, always asking for an extravagant bouquet for another recovering patient.

"It must get expensive to buy so many bouquets," Lance notes one day as he hands Shiro another flower arrangement. "I mean, you do get some pretty fancy ones."

"I hope this doesn't sound conceited, but I do make a pretty good salary from my job. To be honest, it's more money than I actually know what to do with." Shiro shrugs before continuing. "So, I figured I might as well spend my money on something for my patients."

"I think that's really cool of you," Lance says, walking Shiro over to the cash register. "I'd like to think I'd do the same if I weren't such a poor college student, but who knows."

"Oh, I bet you'd do great things with it. You're so sweet, after all," Shiro says. The way he compliments Lance is so nonchalant it stings because Lance is sure that Shiro is simply the type of person who goes around complimenting everyone all willy-nilly. Lance wonders exactly how many of Shiro's patients have inadvertently become smitten with him. It's so hard not to, after all.

Thace is already at the register ready to ring Shiro's order up, so Lance leaves them to it to go check on the new batch of birds of paradises they got recently. After using so many in Shiro's flower arrangements, they were starting to run low, but Shiro had enjoyed them so much that Lance had begged Thace to priority ship a new bundle of them to grow and harvest. Thace had grudgingly agreed, but Lance catches Thace adding some to his own bouquets, so he decides that's another win for him.

Maybe he isn’t doing that badly, working at the flower shop. At least, he hopes Shiro thinks as much.

Shiro comes by for more flower bouquets, and Lance makes them all mostly the same. That is, he does until Shiro walks into the shop, eyes downcast and shoulders heavy. At first, Lance is prepared to not pry.

Then, Shiro comes closer, Lance sees the way his eyes are red-rimmed and swollen, and Lance just can't keep his mouth shut because of it.

"Shiro?" Lance asks quietly, setting the pot of marigolds down gently to walk over to him. "Is everything alright?"

"One of my patients," Shiro whispers with a wearied sigh, "passed away today. Her kids were there to see it."

"Oh," is all Lance can say.

"Their Godfather arrived shortly afterwards, so he was able to comfort them, even if just a little bit. I want to give them all something, and the first thing I thought of was giving him some flowers. It's really nothing, in the end, but I hope it'll still help."

Shiro's words flow out of him in a harried stream of guilt and exhaustion, and he just looks so sad that Lance can't help but fling his arms around Shiro's neck to pull him into a big hug.

"It wasn't your fault," Lance whispers into the crook of Shiro's neck because that's as far as his head reaches. "You did your best. I know you did because you're such a good guy that cares so much about his patients."

After a stunned moment, Lance can feel Shiro's arms, so much thicker and more toned than Lance's, slink their way around Lance's back, along with a shuddering breath shaking over Lance's head. They stay like that for some time, pressed together in silence, before Lance remembers that doing stuff like this isn't necessarily normal or even _appropriate_.

So, Lance pulls away quickly. At least, he tries to. Shiro's arms around him linger, and Lance swears that for a second they even tighten up just a smidge. Shiro draws his arms away right after that, though, so Lance figures that he probably imagined that in his disappointment.

"I'm sorry," Lance says after they move away from each other. "I wasn't thinking. I hope you're not upset. I won't do it again, promise."

Shiro chuckles, and the stress lines of his face smooth out the tiniest bit. "No, no, it's fine. In fact, it was just what I needed. Thank you, Lance."

Lance resists the urge to swoon at the sound of his name being spoken in Shiro's voice. He thought that by now, after hearing it a fair number of times, that he'd be over how good it sounds, but he is decidedly not over it, unfortunately.

Regardless, Lance doesn't do anything else embarrassing. He simply responds with a quiet, "No problem," before remembering that he is a flower shop employee who was just asked to do his job and make a flower bouquet.

This time, Shiro wants to be able to leave with the flower arrangement in hand, which is perfectly reasonable and super nice of him for the family he wants to comfort. Thace is out, though, off to buy more fertilizer, which leaves Lance by himself to man the place, and it's always situations like these that toss Lance in hot water; he has no time to look up the proper flowers, and there is no Thace to do the work in his place.

Which is unfortunate.

Nonetheless, Lance does his best. He knows he can't use most of the flowers that he included in his other arrangements for Shiro because how insulting would a couple of 'get well soon' flowers be in this situation? He also can't use any of the other flowers he's familiar with, like red roses and irises, and he can't use those annoying hatred flowers again.

Ultimately, Lance is left to wander around the shop aimlessly, peering at flowers here and there while Shiro looks on, waiting. Lance wishes he could just tell what each flower means by looking at them, but that's obviously not going to help, based on the aconite and yellow carnations.

After awhile of him just flitting about the shop and accomplishing nothing, Lance grows paranoid and thinks that Shiro's probably has that exasperated look on his face that Thace sometimes looks at Lance with. So, Lance starts picking up flowers and hopes for the best because, if there's anyone he doesn't want to upset with his poor flower arranging skills, it's Shiro.

So, Lance ends up just choosing random, but nice-looking flowers, at will. He picks a handful of white stargazer lilies that have the biggest, softest petals. He also goes back to the red and pink carnations he was tending to earlier and includes some of those because they just reached full-bloom the other day, and Lance thinks it would be nice to let such new beauties be a part of such a sweet bouquet. He also trims a couple of lilac gladioli because something about the way they bunch and grow small and tall together is oddly inspiring.

Lance doesn't want to increase his chances of making a horrible mistake by adding more flowers, so he decides to finish the bouquet with that. Except, when he spots a little bushel of white roses while wrapping the arrangement up, he decides to add just one stem. He figures that a white rose couldn't possibly mean anything too horrible, and only having one of them shouldn't be that big of a deal.

Lance wraps it all up especially nice and hands it to Shiro with only slightly shaking hands. He has no idea if it means what it should, and neither does Shiro. Either way, he hopes the recipient doesn't get offended because that's the last thing he needs. Either way, it still looks beautiful, and Shiro looks pleased.

"Thank you so much, Lance," Shiro breathes, and he looks tired again, but also relaxed and even a bit happy. "For everything."

"I didn't do anything," Lance mumbles. He can't bring himself to look Shiro directly in the eye, not when he's looking at Lance so gentle and appreciative, "except my job."

Shiro shakes his head. "No, Lance, you did everything."

Lance doesn't reply to that because he doesn't know how. Instead, he goes through the motions of ringing Shiro's order up at the register, weakly returns Shiro's next embrace, this time initiated by Shiro, and waves him off with a smile that he hopes doesn't give away just how smitten he is. This is dangerous water, and he's not even treading it well. In fact, he is sure that he's sinking, and it's sad. Even Thace can tell when he finally returns because he gives Lance a _concerned_ look for once. Lance just shrugs it off and watches their new little vase of white roses slowly turn blue.

At least the arrangement Lance made for Shiro was exactly what it needed to be. Lance looks up the meaning of the flowers he used almost immediately after Shiro leaves, and he's so relieved that he didn't disappoint Shiro that he almost cries because letting Shiro down would've just been far too sad.

Shiro's too good for that, too good for Lance, after all.

 

* * *

 

 

The next time Shiro visits, he, predictably, asks for another flower arrangement. Except, this time, he already has all the flowers he wants in mind.

"Would you mind if I tell you exactly what I want in the bouquet?" Shiro asks shyly, and the sight is just so cute that Lance slips a little bit deeper down into his adoration for Shiro.

"Of course!" Lance says. "It makes my job easier, after all."

So Shiro picks out several flowers, more than Lance had anticipated. He asks for bright red amaryllises, a handful of Lily of the Valleys, gillyflowers striated white and pink, the most beautiful white gardenias, and a couple of cute, magenta primroses.

"And some purple roses, too," Shiro adds at the end, pointing to where they grow behind Lance. Lance had never even thought to use purple roses before, but they are absolutely stunning amongst the rest of the flowers Shiro had picked out.

In fact, that whole thing is stunning, much different than the other bouquets Shiro had requested for his recovering patients, and Lance can't help but feel jealous even though he hates himself for it because of course Lance would have a crush on the most unattainable person he knows. Shiro follows Lance to the cash register and doesn't even flinch at the price of it all, which makes Lance even more envious for the mysterious recipient.

Except, Lance's jealousy is instead transformed into complete and utter shock when Shiro hands _him_ the bouquet after Lance steps away from the counter.

"It's for you," Shiro mumbles, and he suddenly looks so young.

And Lance, for some time, has no idea what to say. He holds the bouquet up close to his face under the guise of smelling it, but he actually needs it hide the horrendous blush spreading across his face. Eventually, he croaks out a small, "Shiro, it's beautiful. Thank you."

Silence creeps over them for a few seconds as Shiro continues to look at Lance, eyes darting here and there. Lance just stares back, head tilting to the side. He gets the feeling that Shiro is looking for something, but Lance has no idea how to help him.

Finally, Shiro shatters the moment by coughing and saying, "I'm glad you think so. Well, I should get going soon. Work and stuff, you know."

Before Lance can say anything else, Shiro is practically sprinting out of the place, leaving Lance flabbergasted. To make matters worse, Thace appears out of nowhere to press another heavy hand on Lance's shoulder that he _knows_ is weighed down with resignation.

"Lance," Thace sighs, and then stops.

"What?" Lance whines. He's already confused with what just happened with Shiro; he doesn't need Thace being all crytpic, too.

Thace shakes his head and sighs again, and Lance is really starting to hate that sound. "Lance, why don't you go in the back for a second to look up what all those flowers in that bouquet of yours means. I'll take over for now."

Lance eyes Thace suspiciously, but he's never been one to turn down a nice break. So, he goes, taking the big, beautiful flower arrangement Shiro had bought him with him and sets to work.

_Red amaryllis is for passion and worth beyond beauty._

_Lily of the Valley symbolizes sweetness and purity of the heart._

_Gillyflowers represent happiness and lasting beauty._

_Gardenias embody the joy of a secret admirer._

_Primroses signify the deep adoration of young love._

And Lance is practically crying at this point, but it gets even worse with the purple roses.

_Purple roses, rare and striking for the light, yet rich, hues of their petals are used to express love at first sight and all the magic that comes with it._

It almost pains Lance to leave the bouquet behind when he bursts back into the front of the store, but he doesn't want to accidentally damage the flowers because they are almost too precious to look at.

"Thace!" Lance yells, and he is on the verge of heaving from how intensely his emotions are tearing through him. "Shiro _likes_ me!"

In contrast to how frenzied Lance feels, Thace turns to look at Lance with that signature unimpressed look of his. "I know."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lance whines. He doesn't know how to handle himself right now, so he's reverted to being a bit of a brat. Thace takes it reasonably well, all things considered.

"Well, if you did your job properly, you would've known what all those flowers meant without having to look them up."

Lance can't even refute Thace, and that makes him even more upset. So he half changes the subject instead. "But Thace, now Shiro thinks that I don't like him too! What if he never comes back here because of it?"

Thace scoffs as he rolls his eyes. "I'm sure he'll come back. After giving you such a nice bouquet, do you really think his feelings for you are so shallow that he'd just stop coming here just because you didn't return them?"

Once again, Lance has no idea what to say. So, he opts to just believe in Thace and hope for the best because, every time he sees those flowers sitting in the biggest vase he owns, all Lance wants is to see Shiro again.

Thankfully, Shiro does return a few days later, and Lance all but runs up to him as soon as he spots him.

"Shiro!" Lance huffs, slightly winded from his mad dash to the door. "About the bouquet you gave me - "

"I know, I'm sorry," Shiro says, cutting Lance off. "It was inappropriate of me to give you that, especially while you were at work. I hope you can forgive me, and we can go back to being friends."

"It's fine! Because - "

"No, it's not fine. That was completely out of line - "

"No, listen to me!" Lance yells, this time cutting Shiro off. He's so flustered that he doesn't even care that Thace can probably hear this entire embarrassing conversation. "Look, I'm the worst."

Shiro opens his mouth again to respond, but Lance speaks again quickly so they don't have to go through another bout of interrupting each other. "I'm the worst flower shop employee, ok? I don't know anything about what any of these flowers mean. All I can do is take care of them and sometimes make a decent flower arrangement, if I have enough time. So, I didn't know what any of those flowers you gave me meant until later when I finally got the chance to look them up."

He pauses to catch his breath, and, thankfully, Shiro remains silent. "So, I wasn't trying to turn you down or anything when by only thanking you for them because I actually really, _really_ , like you too." Lance is blushing again, but at least he can see a hint of red on Shiro's face, too.

Now Shiro returns to the conversation, and now Lance is more than happy to let him. "Yeah? Do you really mean it?"

"Yes," Lance breathes. "Yes, God, you're so attractive and so nice and so... just amazing, how could I not?"

"I'm glad. Because that's I feel about you, too."

Now it's Lance's turn to whisper out a hopeful, "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then," Lance begins, suddenly feeling awkward now that his desperate plea has been, not only delivered, but also accepted. "Would you like to go out with me one day, then? On a date?"

"I'd be delighted to," Shiro replies, and he is so beautiful, even more so than all the flowers around them, that Lance isn't even bothered by the sight of Thace peeking his head past a pot of goldenrods to watch them.

"Then it's a date."

Shiro smiles, that gorgeous smile of his, and, this time, Lance feels comfortable smiling back just as big.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed my first little piece of pure fluff (with a bit of angsty pining lol). i also want to add that blue roses tend to symbolize longing for something unattainable, while goldenrods are for encouragement and good luck, so i thought they were cute additions to the story haha
> 
> i'm also thinking of adding a more explicit sequel to this, if you guys are interested!
> 
> anyway, please let me know what you think!
> 
> if you want to talk to me or are interested in a writing commission, you can find me on [tumblr](https://fever-d-dreams.tumblr.com)


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